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Written by Frank Stratford
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Thursday, 09 November 2006 |
- What sort of training or experience do you think is vital to being selected as an astronaut and what sort of qualifications would you recommend for any future aspiring astronauts reading this?
For people seeking to be selected as an astronaut there needs to be a proven technical capability and demonstrable diversity of skills as the astronaut is called upon to engage in a large variety of tasks. Being multi-skilled is a definite pre-requisite in the process of training to become an astronaut. - Can you describe what it is like to take off aboard the Space Shuttle and enter space and what is your opinion of the Shuttle and its continuation until the CEV is completed?
It is one of the most unique and profound experiences as person could possibly have, in terms of flying in space. I don’t think anything on the ground can quite compare to it. You strap yourself in and you hear the countdown procedure then you feel that rumble underneath you as the engines are started and then there is a tremendous explosion as the solid rocket boosters are ignited, and you are released from the pad. You feel the acceleration pushing you back into the your seat as you roll out over the ocean, there is a tremendous vibration of the solid rockets and of course after 2 minutes they are depleted of fuel and power and acceleration decrease slightly, then another jarring explosion is experienced as the solid rocket boosters are released with the main engines being powered up again and it becomes a much smoother ride, the sky goes from blue to purple to black, as you climb out of the atmosphere you approach 3 g’s and sustain that for several more minutes, after which the main engines cut off, it becomes quiet and the vibrations of the acceleration goes away at which point you start floating around after what has been a tremendously explosive ride. The schedule calls for the shuttle to be retired in 2010, or after the assembly of the ISS, approximately another 18 flights manifested including one Hubble repair mission after which the shuttle will be retired, and it is probably time to do that. It has proven itself to be a unique technological achievement but it also has shown itself to be a very fragile technology and so it is time to be moving onto the next vehicle and that is what we will be doing. - Do you have any thoughts as to the possibility of the Hubble repair mission being cancelled?
Yes I think it there will be a repair mission on the next shuttle flight, it is scheduled for about May or June next year and that is in effect a return to flight mission since the mission we flew last year on which there was still some issues with insulation foam coming off the tank which has now been resolved. There is a commitment from the agency to repair the Hubble and I think it will be approved. - What are some of the more interesting experiments you have conducted while in space aboard the Shuttle or Mir?
The interest for me is just being able to live, work and function in zero gravity, for example, just think about disassembling and reassembling equipment on the ground but when you do that in zero gravity there is a huge challenge when everything floats away, all the components and various items just float away. You have to be quite skilled at doing the repairs to parts, using tools in zero gravity so they and other items don’t float away while you are doing the repairs. It presents quite a big challenge. I had the opportunity on the flight last year to repair a tape recorder that was urgently needed and had to be accomplished very quickly. Even though I am accustomed to working in zero gravity it still wasn’t very fun work. - What was your routine like while you were staying on Mir and how did that long period of zero G affect your body?
The routine was a standard 9 to 5 work day with an exercise break and 3 meals a day, and in the evening I relaxed with movies, a book, music, something like that so in that sense it is very much like a normal routine. We had a Monday through Friday schedule and Saturday/Sunday we would have reduced duties, it was a bit more laid back and was good in that way. Once you get into that normal routine and into the flow of things it becomes very normal, easy and even relaxing in many ways. - Can you tell us a bit about your EVA experiences? What are the space suits like to work in and what is the feeling you have when working outside the Shuttle?
Yes, I did have an EVA a few years ago and yes, the space suits do pose a lot of challenges because it’s pressurized and they do tend to want to straiten out under about 5 Psi of pressure and all the tasks you need to do out there require a lot of physical effort and that is the biggest challenge. When you are out there for 6 or 7 hours just having the physical strength and stamina to complete the tasks is a challenge in itself. It is a very unique experience going outside and something we are going to have to do a lot more of when we go back to the Moon and on the surface. - Can you tell us what you think are some of the advantages/benefits of having humans in space?
Actually we need to decide why we want to have human exploration of space and to my way of thinking it warrants basic inspiration and is to answer the questions what is the solar system and what is our place in it. For example if you look at the recent pictures coming from Mars it is clear that Mars was once a much wetter and warmer place than it is today, very similar to how the earth was at the same time. I think it would be worthwhile going there to look for evidence of life in fossils. I don’t think there is life there now but it may be possible however unlikely. There may be evidence the life did once form on Mars before Mars climate became so cold. I think understanding that and looking for that life could be of profound importance to humankind and would more than adequately justify the expense of human space exploration. - There are many Australians who are also interested in going into space one day, what would you suggest such people do to increase their chances and can you see a future where Australia might have its own human space exploration programs?
I would certainly like to see Australia develop its own space program, not necessarily in the short term a human space program but a space program where it uses space born assets for national security and an economic return and I would like to see that happen. I think the one thing that most Australians who really think this is an important thing to be involved in is to mention to the government and the politicians that we are tired of Australia being second rate in this area and not having a presence in space that other countries. Even some third world countries have a better presence in space than Australia does. I think the political leaders need to make a commitment to this so that it can happen for Australia. - What issues need to be dealt with before Australia had its own space program and how can Australians help make this happen?
I think the only barrier is a lack of political will, that’s all it is. Australia has the technical competence to do it, it has the resources to do it, it has sites like Woomera and so forth which would be ideal as spaceports, I just think is a question of political will and making the politicians understand that it is an investment in Australia’s future. - What would you feel would be the positives for the creation of an Australian spaceport to support private manned spaceflight?
That would be an economic return for the country which I think would be useful but I think Australia as a country needs to think of what a space program could provide for us and it could provide a lot of things, it could provide investment in the space program, commercial opportunities it could be used to support education and encourage education and most importantly I think a space program can be used to help with national security which in the years to come is becoming increasingly important for Australia and I think those are the arguments that need to be presented to politicians to get them on board because we do need a space capability for our country. - What is your opinion of the further privatization of space including LEO? Is it progressing as fast and what would help get it up and running sooner?
I don’t know if you could get it running sooner, I think its probably progressing as fast as it can. Unfortunately I think there is a lot of hype about privatization of space flights and I think these types of flights are really just very high altitude aircraft rides with small rockets and are only just at the edge of our atmosphere. I think the real promotional opportunities will come when you have an orbital capability but that is a long way off and its very expensive. The main thing about emerging private enterprise in space is to not put too many regulatory barriers in place. Allow free enterprise free reign to function and develop the markets, its one of those things where if there is too much regulation it will bite them. - If you were given a chance to go to Mars what sort of issues would you as an astronaut have to consider and what would you be looking forward to?
Well most important to me would be exploring another planetary body. Just learning how another planet works, all the geophysics and environment would be completely alien, a rare and uniquely different planet, the planetary environment would be completely new, it would just be endless and wonderful explorations and discoveries and it would just be so intellectually rewarding to do that. For an astronaut to go to Mars is not much different to spending 6 months on the space station in terms of confinement while a little more complex it is certainly within the realms of possibility to do that. - What are your hopes for the future of human space flight and do you have any words of advice for private groups who might be pursuing such directions?
I hope to see further human space flight, going to them Moon and then on to Mars, for private groups I would say to proceed cautiously. The complexities of space flight can mean accidents and for private space enterprises this could destroy the market and they don’t want to do that. So private groups should proceed cautiously and don’t present themselves as being in competition to NASA or being able to do things NASA are unable to do. Unfortunately there has been a lot of hype with some of these private enterprises who present themselves as doing things NASA is unable to do and that’s actually not true and they must cut the hype and be candid about what they can really do. - What is your professional opinion of the use of inflatable space structures similar to those you tested on STS-77 in relation to the one Bigelow Aerospace are constructing? How could lessons learned from these experiences be used to build similar structures on Mars?
I think inflatable structures have big potential to be very useful for space flight and being able to package very small structures with large applications are a very attractive idea for the future of space missions. 15. What advice do you have for MarsDrive?Get involved with the Constellation program over the next few years as it will involve the development of heavy lift launch vehicles and crew vehicles. With medium lift and orbital spaceship construction/docking there will be very high stress loads placed on astronauts and that will need to be taken into account when considering such plans. Get involved with NASA’s next steps to the Moon and if there are any commercial opportunities it would be wise to work with NASA on those.
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